Текст книги "Next-Door Incubus"

Автор книги: Emilia Rose

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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

CHAPTER 4

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Dani

Trevon wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close, as we walked into Crimson’s Nouveau, an upscale dining restaurant in the center of the city. Couples sat at the rustic bar in the center of the room, waiters placed plates of food in front of people in black leather booths, and the hostess who was standing in front of a chalky brick wall gave us a perplexed look when we just walked right by her.

“Aren’t we getting a table?” I asked Trevon.

He gazed down at me, leading me through a maze of people. “We’re meeting Maria and Eros here,” he said.

I stopped, pressed my lips together, and yanked on his sleeve. “What?”

“We’re meeting—”

“Why? Why them?” The only plan that I had come up with today after my little chat with Dr. U was to avoid Eros. No, not confront the problem head on like she would want me to do. Just ignore the problem and hope he’d go away.

Trevon shrugged. “I saw him this morning, and he asked if we wanted to go out. I didn’t think you’d mind, but we can leave if you want.”

“Dani! Trevon!” Maria yelled from a booth from across the bar. She waved her hands in the air, as if I could miss the bright orange cropped shirt she had on. Eros and his roommates were sitting in the booth.

Eros’s eyes were on me and only me. I gulped and squeezed Trevon’s hand.

Lust was nothing compared to my incredible, amazing, trustworthy, handsome boyfriend.

Trevon pulled me over to the table and immediately dropped my hand. He slid into the booth next to Javier, one of Eros’s roommates, and I grumbled to myself, taking the only open seat left which was directly across from the man himself—Eros.

My gaze stayed glued to the menu. Yet, I couldn’t help smelling that cinnamon scent, tasting it on my tongue. I didn’t have to look up to know that Eros was staring right at me.

Truth was, I was afraid that, if I looked up, Eros would be able to read every one of my thoughts about him last night. It was absurd, but I couldn’t risk it. Those thoughts were intimate and so damn embarrassing, especially with Trevon sitting—cluelessly—next to me.

After we ordered, Trevon curled an arm around my waist and leaned close. “Is everything alright? You’re tense.” His eyes were bright, and a small smile was plastered on his face.

Hoping that it would help me shake my lustful thoughts, I tried remembering all the times I’d seen that small smile on Trevon’s face. On the swings in elementary school when he shared his grape juice box with me. Through one of the foggy classroom windows while I sat in fifth grade detention alone because some girls were picking on him for his hair, and I wasn’t going to let them hurt my best friend. While we danced together in the rain in his backyard the night of prom because Kellan from his wrestling team never showed up as my date.

I had always loved Trevon, and one annoyingly sexy smirk wasn’t going to change my mind.

“Everything is fine,” I said, sipping my white wine. It was the only thing getting me through tonight.

“We can go if you want,” Trevon said to me.

Yes, please, let’s go home. Far away from Maria who kept gazing at me, then at Eros, then back at me like something had happened between us. Far away from Eros’s smoldering stare. Far away from these feelings that wouldn’t leave me alone, no matter how hard I tried.

“No,” I said. Trevon was happy, and this was one of his only nights he had off of work during the week. I didn’t want to ruin that for him, even if I had to endure the rest of dinner. He gave me a big smile, planted a kiss on my cheek, and turned back to Javier and Zane, Eros’s other roommate.

Under the table, Eros’s foot grazed against mine. I pressed my lips together, trying to ignore it, but then it happened again. “Quit it,” I whisper-yelled across the table, not daring to look at Eros.

He continued.

“Stop.”

Still, his foot brushed against mine.

I raised my gaze and glared at him. He leaned back against the leather booth, swirling his glass of red wine in his hand. The black ring on his left index finger clanked against the glass. He narrowed those piercing green eyes at me as if he was trying to figure me out. And just when I was about to turn away, his eyes darkened.

They reminded me of my dream when his eyes were beautifully black with no whites in them at all, but…

My eyes widened. My dream.

Heat crawled up the sides of my neck, and I rubbed Mom’s pendant again. God, he had to remind me of that stupid dream.

“How was your night last night, Dani?” he asked.

Did he know that I dreamt about him last night? That I begged for him? That I couldn’t stop thinking about him? The mischievous glint in his eye made me think he knew everything. But he couldn’t.

“Good.”

“Just good?” He cocked his brow. A strand of his dark hair curled onto his forehead.

“Just good,” I repeated, trying to convince myself of it.

He took a long sip of his wine—jaw clenched—and nodded. When he placed his glass down, his fingertips were white. “We’ll have to fix that next time.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, leaning against the dark wooden table. “What did you just say?”

Without answering me, he gazed back at our friends. A smirk still clear on his face. I leaned closer to Trevon; fingers interlaced with his. “I’m going to the bathroom.” I needed to get away from Eros. He was making me absolutely insane. I didn’t know what was real and what was fake anymore. Reality and imagination were so closely woven together, I couldn’t pick anything apart. Maybe talking with Dr. U would be a good thing.

I hurried to the bathroom, closed the bathroom door, and groaned. “Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?” I leaned my back against the chic brick wall and covered my face with my hands.

This was not how Project Hermit was supposed to go. I should’ve been back at home with my face stuffed into the Games People Play book that Dr. U gave me to read before I left today, blasting music through my ear buds, locked in my room. Not out with Eros, sitting across from Eros, thinking about Eros, dreaming about Eros. Why wouldn’t he leave me alone?

One of the toilets flushed, and a high-heeled woman, who couldn’t be any older than me, walked out of a stall. She washed her hands in the sink and gazed over at me. “Is something wrong?” She tossed her toffee brown hair over her shoulder, her amber perfume overwhelming me.

My cheeks tingled, and I looked away. “Nothing.” Strangers didn’t need to be in my business.

After drying her hands, she pulled out a stick of bright red lipstick from her Versace purse and leaned closer to the mirror. “Come on. Tell me Sweet Cheeks. I’m not going to spill your secrets to anyone.” She applied a coat of lipstick. “Let me guess. Boy trouble?”

I sighed. “Something like that.”

“Bad boyfriend?” She narrowed her eyes at me, then shook her head. “No… hmm… love triangle?” I furrowed my brows together. I wouldn’t call it that. “Getting closer...” After a moment, she smiled. “In a relationship but attracted to another guy?” When I frowned, her smile widened. “I guess that’s the one.” She threw her lipstick back into her purse. “Well, if you ever need someone to talk about this with, I’m Kasey.”

I smiled awkwardly at her. “Uh, Dani.” Was it normal to make friends with people in restaurant bathrooms?

“Here,” she said, handing me her phone. “Put your number in.”

I rubbed my sweaty palms together, unsure if I should, but I ended up entering my number anyway. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this to myself and I sure didn’t want to tell Dr. U about everything that had happened, especially the dream. She’d just lecture me about how these lustful thoughts were the devil’s doing.

With a smile, she walked out of the bathroom, her heels clacking. I took one last look in the mirror and followed. I just needed to get through the rest of the night, then Trevon and I could go home and act like nothing happened. Because nothing had happened.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, I bumped into someone’s chest. Eros. He grabbed my hips, fingers grazed against my skin, to steady me. Then, he pushed me against the door. “Dani, Dani, Dani,” he said.

Great. I swallowed hard. Just… great.

“Why have you been ignoring me?” His fingers dug into my skin.

“I… I haven’t.”

He chuckled and tilted his head, staring down at me with those dark eyes. “Yes, you have.”

“I have a boyfriend,” I blurted out, pressing myself into the wooden door.

“Why’re you getting so defensive?”

“I’m not.”

He raised a brow. “Is it because you’ve been with him, but all you could think about was me?”

I forced a laugh—the cringiest damn laugh I had ever heard. “No! That’s ridiculous!”

He stepped closer, and I couldn’t get myself to step back into the bathroom and slam the door in his face. Instead, I stared up at him, thinking about how close I was to him and how hard my heart was beating against my chest.

Half of his face was shadowed by the dim light above us, giving him a dark, dangerous, devilish look. “I haven’t left your mind since Sunday, have I?” He leaned down slightly, his nose grazing against mine.

This was sin. Pure sin.

“You’re acting stupid now, Eros.”

“Am I?” he asked, his lips were mere inches away. Heat radiated off of them, hitting me in waves. His fingers curled around my waist the way they did Sunday morning.

All I could smell was cinnamon.

“Yes,” I whispered. “You are.”

He stepped even closer, one foot between mine, his waist pressing into the side of my hip. “I’ve been dreaming of all the dirty things I would do to you, how I’d make you beg, how I’d make you scream out as I tormented this pretty little body of yours.” His fingers burned on my skin. “Don’t tell me you haven’t dreamt of the same thing.”

I clenched my jaw, my eyes closing so softly, and took a shaky breath.

His fingers trailed up the side of my body until they reached my lips. He brushed his thumb against my bottom lip, making it tingle. “… so soft, tender…”

Those words… Those were the same ones he had said in my dream.

He grasped my face gently and gazed down at me. Every sinful thing that I wanted him to do to me flashed into my mind. His lips on mine, his long slender fingers tormenting my body, everything.

Mom’s pendant shifted against my chest.

He chuckled. “Even with a boyfriend, you’re so responsive to my touch.”

Trevon. My eyes widened. I pulled myself out of the damn trance he seemed to put me in every single time I was close to him and glared up at him. “I am not.”

“Whatever you say.”

I pressed my lips together. “I’m not!”

He dropped his hands and turned away from me with that damn smirk on his stupid face. I crossed my arms over my chest. I couldn’t believe him. No—scratch that—I couldn’t believe myself.

All those days of Sunday school, all those late Saturday nights at church with Mom listening to a priest preach about a devil that I didn’t think existed, thinking about how weak those people who fell into temptation were.

The devil wasn’t real, but temptation sure was.

Eros gazed back at me and pushed his hand into his pocket. “Oh, and Dani… I found these this morning.” He pulled something out of his pocket. “They looked like yours. Thought I’d return them to you.”

He tossed me the panties I had worn last night and walked away.

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CHAPTER 5

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Dani

I gazed down at the underwear, then at Eros walking toward the table, then back. My fingers curled around the soft material. Where did he get these? When did he get these? How did he get these?

After stuffing the underwear into my pocket, I marched after him. Who did he think he was? Offering us to go to dinner with him, flirting with me, stealing my panties while I was sleeping?

“Don’t you just walk away from me! We need to talk—”

Eros slid into the booth and picked up his fork to eat. He gazed up at me with the most innocent eyes I had ever seen, a forkful of chicken breast and apple relish in his hand. “What do you want to talk about?” Innocent eyes, but a devilish smirk. That goddamn perfect, sexy, annoying smirk.

He trapped me. He knew I wouldn’t be able to confront him here. He knew how much I’d stumble over my words, trying to find an excuse as to why I needed to talk to him in front of Trevon. And I hated it.

I sat next to my loving boyfriend, fingers grazing against his. “Nothing,” I said. I dipped a piece of bread into my bean stew. “It’s nothing.”

Trevon gazed at me briefly, then continued his conversation with Javier.

Eros paused for a moment, twisting his ring around his index finger with his thumb, and leaned back against the white leather. “Oh, come on, Dani.”

Ignore him.

“Don’t be shy.”

He’s just trying to anger you.

“I bet you’re not this shy elsewhere.”

I snapped my eyes to him.

“You’re probably loud, aren’t you?”

I kicked my foot into his shin under the table. Did Trevon not hear this man?

When I looked over, Trevon was in a deep conversation with Javier and Zane about the best places to go in the city on the weekends. He didn’t even glance in our direction. Big smile, wide eyes. I sighed and gazed back at the man of mystery in front of me.

Once I got home, oh boy, I was going to march straight to his apartment and demand that he tell me how he got my panties. I was having no more of this. He couldn’t go around flirting with me and stealing my underwear for no good reason at all.

After enduring another forty minutes of dinner, watching Eros play with his ring and hoping that he wouldn’t talk to me ever again, I had decided that going to his apartment was probably the worst idea I ever had. I could barely keep it together when we were out in public. God only knew what would happen if I ended up at his place.

Trevon slapped a hand on my thigh and smiled at me. “You ready?”

I grabbed his hand, yanking him out of the booth. Oh, I was more than ready to get out of here. He pulled the phone out of his back pocket and grabbed my waist, slowing me down. “Babe, what’s the rush?”

“You can check your phone when we’re in the car. Hurry up,” I said.

We walked out of Crimson’s Nouveau, the cold breeze biting my exposed legs. The car was parked less than a block away across the street. There wasn’t even any traffic. I was so close to freedom. So damn close.

Trevon stopped. “Shit,” he said. The light from his phone illuminated his dark skin. “Something happened at work. I need to go. I’ll give you a ride back home, but we’ll have to make it quick.”

“I can take her back,” Eros said from beside him. Appearing from absolutely nowhere.

“No, that’s not happen—”

Trevon nodded. “That would be great, man. Thanks.”

My eyes widened. I snatched his arm, pulling him to the side. A bus rumbled down the street toward us. “Trevon, I’m not going with him!” I whispered.

“Come on, Dani. I really have to go.”

“No! I—”

His phone started to buzz again. He tapped the screen and lifted it to his ear. After pecking me on the lips, he told me he’d make it up to me.

I crossed my arms over my chest, watching him jog across the street to his car, nearly getting hit by the now-angry bus driver.

Eros walked up beside me, arm grazing against mine. “Looks like it’s just me and you.”

“So, what does Trevon do for work?” Eros asked, one hand on the steering wheel, the other dangerously close to my thigh. His car was strikingly clean, the sleek bronze and black leather seats had no scuffs, the silver accents were glimmering in the moonlight, and the small screen on the dashboard had no fingerprints on it.

I gazed at the city lights through the windshield, jaw clenched. I couldn’t believe I was here. “He owns a bar on Sixth.”

He tapped his ring against the wheel, turning onto a four-lane freeway. “You must get lonely.”

“Excuse me?”

“You spend your nights alone when he’s in the bar.” Eros slowed to a stop at a red light. The car screen lit up with Incoming Call: Luci, and Eros hit the decline button.

I narrowed my eyes at the screen, then at him. “And that makes you think I’m lonely?”

The corner of his lip curled up. “No. I think that you’re lonely because of the way you act.”

“And how do I act?” I asked, voice rising with each word. Why does he have to get under my skin every time I talk to him? Why was I even here? I should be in Trevon’s car with him, not with Mr. I’m-So-Hot-And-I-Know-It.

“Needy… Wanting…” That infamous smirk stretched across his face. “Horny.”

My eyes widened. “What!” I dug my nails into the leather seat. “You’re the one who’s been acting like that. You’re the one who stole my underwear! Who does that?”

He pressed down on the gas, and we drove forward slowly. Calm. He was so calm. “I didn’t steal them. I found them and thought I’d return them to you.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring out at the trees that lined the street. Fiery red and orange leaves hung off of them. “Pfft, yeah okay. You just magically found the same panties that I was wearing last night.”

“You’re hot when you’re angry.”

“Well, you’re not hot at all, so stop talking to me.” I lied, and he knew it. He was so damn hot, but if he didn’t stop talking to me, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I just wanted to be home and be alone—where I’d be able to stay in control of this unexplainable urge that I had to rip Eros’s clothes off and let him do what he wanted to me.

“Why are you lying, Dani?”

“Why are you so full of yourself, Eros?” I clenched my jaw. “You act like you’re this oh-so-powerful sex-god, but I bet you’re not even good in bed. You probably suc—”

Eros hit the brakes, and I flew forward in the car, my seat belt digging into my collarbone. He tangled a hand into my hair, grabbed a fistful of it, and forced me to look at him. I could see my wide-eyed reflection in the black pits of his eyes.

“You have no idea what I’m capable of,” he said. Despite the harsh grip he had on my hair, he gently grazed his thumb against my cheek. “I can leave you trembling under my fingers, Dani.” He roughly grasped my jaw. “… under my lips…” His hand traveled down the column of my neck, sending a wave of heat through me. “When I’m finished with you, you’ll be begging for more.” His fingers grazed against the hem of my dress, dipping along my cleavage. “Craving more,” he whispered.

I pushed my knees together, my core throbbing. Oh, God. Oh, God. This wasn’t good.

“Until you can’t handle it any longer.” His fingers grazed against my nipples through my dress. I shut my eyes.

Stop him, Dani.

My fingers dug into the leather, my head resting back on the seat.

I needed to stop him.

He drew his fingers across them again, and I pulled my knees together even more.

It felt too good.

Someone hit their horn behind us, the sound vibrating through the car. Bright headlights flashed in the rearview mirror. Eros released me and stuck his hand through the window to apologize to the car. He pressed onto the gas.

I stared down at my knees—wide eyed as realization shot through me. Please let that be a dream. Please let that be a dream. I couldn’t begin to comprehend every thought running through my mind. Why did I let Eros touch me? It felt so good. But it shouldn’t. I hadn’t felt that good—ever.

Not even with Trevon.

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CHAPTER 6

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Dani

I laid in my bed, staring up at my plain, boring ceiling and thinking about one person: Trevon. The sleepy smile he gave me every morning, him drawing patterns on my skin with his fingers and brushing his hands through my hair so soft and soothing. The morning sun flooding into the room, hitting his brown eyes and making them a sea of honey.

Five years. Five whole years of memories with him, and I had to blow it all.

After cocooning myself in my blanket, I curled into a ball. The music in my earbuds stopped playing twenty minutes ago, but I didn’t have the energy to get my phone from the dresser. Too much shame was weighing me down.

My fingers grazed against my necklace. Even if Eros made me feel better than Trevon, the feelings I had toward him were purely physical. It was infatuation. They’d go away. They always did.

But I couldn’t keep this from Trevon. I needed to tell him.

I lugged myself out of bed, picked up my phone, and dialed his number. Voicemail. I hung up and tried again. After calling for the fourth time, he picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” I said. “Sorry for calling you at work, but I need to tell you something.”

“Dani, did you get in alright? Thank Eros again for me.”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about hi—”

I heard a woman say something through the phone, voice muffled. Trevon said something back. People started yelling. “Dani, I got to go. Some guys are fighting in the middle of the bar. Tell me about this later.”

Before I had the chance to respond to him, the line went dead. I sighed and threw the phone next to me.

Dam it. Dam it. Dam it. Every time I tried to tell him about Eros, something always interrupted us.

My phone buzzed beside me. I picked it up—hoping Trevon was calling back already.

Unknown: Breakfast tomorrow? ;)

My eyes widened. I swear, if this was Eros, I was going to—

Another buzz.

Unknown: This is Kasey btw (restaurant bathroom girl)

I sighed in relief and added her number to my contacts. The candle beside my bedside crackled in the dark. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to go have breakfast with someone I just met in a public bathroom but I needed to talk to someone about my problem. Maria was too nosey, Trevon was too busy, and Dr. U would only talk sense to me. I rested my head against the pillow and texted her back.

Getting out of this apartment would do me good—anything to take my mind off of Eros would help me at this point.

“Dani,” Eros murmured against my ear. I was lying on my stomach with the side of my face pressing against my pillow, the sweet scent of cinnamon and vanilla filling me. He trailed his nose up the back of my neck and pressed himself against my backside. “I can’t wait to make you mine.”

My toes curled. He felt so good.

He sucked on the skin just below my ear, teeth pressing against my flesh ever so lightly, making me moan. His fingers curled around my chin. “Do you like the way I touch you?”

I nodded, his stubble against my neck making me shiver.

“What should I do to you tonight?”

Anything. I just wanted more and more. I never wanted him to stop. I pushed my hips back against his.

“Tell me what you want,” he said, steadying my hips with his.

“I… uh…”

He slipped his fingers under the waistband of my shorts, rubbing me roughly through my thin panties. I squirmed under his touch, the pressure already building inside of me.

“Tell me,” he said, harsher this time.

“I want… oh, God…”

He removed his hand from my shorts and pushed me onto my back. Lying on his side, he propped himself up on one of his elbows. The moonlight streamed in through the sheer curtains, bouncing off of his bare abdomen. I ran my fingers down his abs, down his v-line, and let them linger at his waistband. I gulped, gazing at the bulge in his pants.

After tucking his finger under my chin, he made me gaze into his eyes. They were black again. Completely and utterly black. No hint of white, no piercing green. Endless black pits.

They should’ve scared me.

He moved his lips closer until they were hovering above mine and grabbed my hand, placing it firmly on his bulge. “Is this what you want, Dani?” he asked, lips grazing against mine.

“Yes.”

I rubbed a hand over my face and pulled my blanket over my half-naked body. Another stupid dream about Eros.

From my bed, I gazed out the window. My curtains were pulled back, and I could see the morning’s pink and purple clouds over the city skyline. Why couldn’t I have a normal night for once? Why was he haunting my every dream?

My phone lit up on my side table. One unread message from Kasey asking me about breakfast. No messages from Trevon.

After sending him a good morning text—and not receiving one back—I rolled out of bed, dressed for my internship, and walked out of the room, following the scent of bacon and eggs. When I reached the kitchen, I paused and gazed at the Eros who was sitting at the counter with Maria and his roommates.

“Dani!” Maria said, hopping off of a stool. Strands of her blonde hair hung around her face. “Come eat with us. We made extra!” She walked over to the skillet. “I’ll make a plate for you.”

“I have plans. Maybe next time,” I said. I grabbed my jacket from the coat hanger.

“Is Trevon coming with you or is he staying here until you come back? Because if he is, he should come eat.” She stuck her head down the hall. “Trevon!”

“Trevon isn’t here.”

She placed a hand on her hip. “Mhm, sure. That’s why you have that big bruise under your ear. You must’ve given it to yourself last night, if he wasn’t here.”

“Bruise?” My fingers grazed against the skin below my ear. It was tender, but there wasn’t a bruise there. There couldn’t be. I opened the camera on my phone, staring at the screen in disbelief.

A text from Trevon popped up, but I ignored it. My skin was dark purple and red. It looked like a hick—wait a second.

My gaze lifted to Eros. He was tossing an apple into the air, staring at me with the greenest eyes I had ever seen. I shoved my phone in my jacket pocket. “Eros, can I speak to you?”

I didn’t wait for his reply. I just walked out the front door and waited for him to follow. He shut the door behind him, leaning against the doorframe. The hallway was empty—thank God. Eros threw the granny smith apple from hand to hand. “You and Trevon must’ve had some fun last night.”

“Stop it.” I dug my nails into my palms. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I know that you’re up to something and it needs to stop.”

“What do you mean?”

I placed my hands on my hips. “First, you steal my panties. Second, I have this huge hickey on my neck!”

“What makes you think I gave you that hickey?”

“Because you gave it to me in my dre—” I stopped. I sounded so stupid. I had no proof that he did this to me. And, besides, I locked all the doors and even pushed a chair in front of my door so, if someone came in, I would know. Nothing was out of place this morning.

He tilted his head, still tossing that apple.

“Were you in my room last night?” I asked.

“Do you think I was?”

If I was wrong about this, I’d make a fool out of myself. But I already made a fool out of myself the first day I met him when I was dancing around in that damn underwear. So, I swallowed my pride. “Yes.”

He cocked a brow, eyes flickering down my body for a moment, and kicked himself off of the doorframe. “If you’re getting breakfast with Trevon, I suggest you cover that up.” And, with that, he opened the door and walked back inside.

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